Lukashenko: Vatican, Jewish lobby deceived Putin

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated in an interview with Al-Arabiya that the Vatican and the 'Jewish lobby' deceived Russian President Vladimir Putin into withdrawing troops from Kyiv in early 2022. Lukashenko claimed Russian forces were already in the capital and that Ukraine's defeat was imminent before Putin agreed to withdraw based on promises of peace. He asserted that Ukrainian President Zelensky and others were involved in the deception, causing the war to drag on. The remarks, made in the context of assessing Ukraine's wartime performance, signal Belarus's shifting narrative on the conflict.